


May It Be

by Erin_Knightly_Tetch



Series: TB: May It Be [1]
Category: The Batman (Cartoon)
Genre: Alice in Wonderland References, Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fighting, Flirting, Friendship, Mild Language, Romance, Sarcasm, Sassy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 16:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16122695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erin_Knightly_Tetch/pseuds/Erin_Knightly_Tetch
Summary: "May It Be" picks up 5 months after the events of "Twisted Souls" and Gotham is in a very eerie dead calm. With a missing Basil Karlo and Ethan Bennett, the GCPD are at loss as to find the two Clayfaces and Detective Ellen Yin will not give up until she finds her former partner and bring him back to the light; Elsewhere, Erin Knightly is trying to keep her life together as she continues her romantic relationship with Jervis Tetch/The Mad Hatter and her wounded friendship with Guen Pendragon/Wraith. Erin must face several obstacles as she tries to keep reality in check....or face falling into Wonderland forever....





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I own Erin Knightly & the Wonderland van.
> 
> Guen Pendragon/Wraith & Rosie, the husky, and the fore mentioned "Twisted Souls" belongs to Yoru.
> 
> Jervis Tetch & all Batman related characters/elements belong to DC Comics and their creators. 
> 
> Alice in Wonderland ofc belongs to Lewis Carroll.

There was some sort of ache in her body that caused her to groan. It felt like a minor cramp in her ribs, like when she slept wrong but her whole head was spinning and her legs felt like lead. In hindsight, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if the ground didn’t feel like it was moving too. Nothing was moving however, there was no reason or cause to make her believe this. The ground beneath her was cold and hard, the texture familiar but something she wasn’t worried about at that point in time. Darkness overtook her and whenever she blinked to open her eyes, it seemed like a time lapse of images. The room was dark at some conjuncture, at other times the room seemed to have some sort of light but nothing bright enough for her to make out anything concrete. 

She breathed in and out with ease, the pounding in her head was still slowly progressing from what felt like a migraine to a mere annoyance from lack of caffeine. When had that occurred? But if she wished to have any sort of thought process she’d have to ease into it because of how much it hurt to even blink. She closed her eyes and let sleep take her. No dreams came and her mind seemed to finally calmed down from all the excitement and the pounding sensation stopped. The ceiling above her did come into focus when she awoke and with it….a familiar face. The man looked gaunt and worn out, short greying hair unkempt as always and he wore a very relieved smile as he held a steaming cup in his hand. 

“D--Dr. Langstrom?” were the first words out of her mouth.

Dr. Kirk Langstrom set down the cup in his hands and bent down to help her sit up and rest against the pillows she had been laying but hadn’t taken notice of. _When had the ground gone from cold and hard to warm and soft like cotton?_ Erin Knightly, against her ward’s look of concern, moved to pick up the steaming cup. It was a tea. Chai or Green or Jasmine. Something with a scent she had become familiar with the last few months. She groaned a bit due to moving so quickly to pick up something she could actually digest. 

“You should really let me help move you”, Langstrom told her, “Penguin nearly killed you”.

The redhead felt the hot tea shake in her fingers as she lifted it to take a sip and a splash of liquid hit the side of her finger but the minor touch of liquid was nothing compared to the wincing she was doing due to her bandages and her midsection feeling as though a truck had hit her. Her eyebrows furrowed and she pursed her lips, ignoring his last statement. She said nothing to this and watched him move about the room with care, bringing back a chair to sit next to her. He was checking her bandages on her left arm.

“I’m sorry I didn’t move you sooner”, he apologized, “I--”, he paused here as though he wanted to tell her why or at least apologize some more, “Mr. Tetch helped me bring you here. I gave him a shopping list and he’ll be back soon”, he explained quickly. 

Head bent down and looking away from her apologetically, he set to work changing her bandages. Erin waited patiently and when he was done, she returned to the cup in her hands. They must have moved her to a warehouse, that was why the texture of the floor felt so familiar. And now they were in one of Langstrom’s hide outs. She appreciated his help. The tea helped with the pounding in her head and after a minute or so longer, she set the cup down and leaned back against the pillows. Letting the soft cotton cup her head. Langstrom sat with muted patience, watching her with concern as he cleaned up the dirtied bandages. She didn’t meet his gaze and instead kept her cornflower blue eyes towards the ceiling. _She had had enough. Nobody was going to tell her what to do anymore. She wasn’t some glass doll and she was going to get her hands dirty if she had to…_

“Erin?” Langstrom’s voice was quiet. 

“Does he look worse than me?” was all she wanted to know.

Langstrom stared at her in wonder, almost in awe of her, “From the angle I was able to see when Batman carted him off, then yes I suppose so”.

_“Good”._

He shivered slightly at her answer. Something had changed. She had been different before but now, she was something else. And he admired that. And he feared it a bit too. But he wasn’t going to let that flightless pest hurt her again. Not if Man-Bat had anything to say or do about it. He threw away the used bandages and checked the front again, waiting to see if the Mad Hatter had returned yet. In the meantime Erin refused to watch the TV or even speak. Of course Langstrom found relief when she did speak to him or show interest in his company. He left her alone otherwise. He knew she had to rest but couldn’t help but be concerned as she winced to get up to walk around, which had been a bad idea due to her weakened state but Erin flatly exclaimed she was fine. It didn’t stop him from letting her use him as a crutch as she made her way to the small kitchen.

“My queen!” a voice remarked.

The voice didn’t belong to Jervis Tetch but to Killer Moth. Moth had been sitting at the small table, nervously nursing a cup of hot chocolate and looking through a magazine for the three hundredth time before seeing her come into the room. He dropped to one knee in a knight’s bowed gesture before her. 

“I’m so relieved to see you and up and about! Oh! The Mad Hatter will be pleased to see your recovered!” Killer Moth joyfully spluttered, “He should be here any moment!” 

Erin gave him a smile and pet his head with her hand, “Thank you, Moth”, she replied in return, “I’ll be fine. I’m just glad you’re okay as well--”, she paused to look at Langstrom, “Wait...Bennett. Did you see where Ethan Bennett disappeared to? I was---”, she slowled her breathing due to her excitement of remembering now--  
“Clayface”, her voice murmured in a hurt tone, “I remember him turning into Clayface--”

Her voice was cut off by the front door opening and closing and footsteps approaching from behind her. The redhead came out of her inquiry of thoughts, turning around to see Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, approach her and it was as though she completely forgot about Langstrom keeping her steady or Killer Moth on the floor bowed down in front of her. The Mad Hatter gave a relieved cheshire grin as he set down the grocery bags on the hallway floor and stepped the few paces between them, enveloping her in a gentle embrace. 

“My fair queen you’ve awoken from your slumber and I’m much relieved to see you up and about”, Jervis remarked, happily kissing her hand.

Erin’s cheeks were bright and her lips curved into a smile, her eyes losing the dark and stormy seriousness before and becoming bright as though lost in a dream like state.


	2. Chapter 1

Gotham wasn’t your typical city and even your usual night of busting robberies wasn’t always an easy break. It was the start of a roller coaster, one you couldn’t get off of once you decided to sit down and buckle up for it. If you sat in the front, you were sure to see glimpses of the front lines and that always didn’t end as well as you’d hoped. If you sat in the middle, you were stuck praying for either a slow burn or a fast, quick, painless experience. And if you were in the back, you were just the passenger and your screams of fear and concern were deafened altogether. 

Detective Ellen Yin wasn’t quite sure where she fit into this roller coaster ride she’d been on for quite some time. The lines blurred for her. Was she the brave soul of the front lines or was she just simply the passenger, thrust into this madness with very little say in the matter? Arguably, she enjoyed the adrenaline rush and only questioned her choices after the fact. Going up against the likes of the Riddler and the Joker, for starters. How was she still alive despite the roller coaster never ending? These minor inquiries are what plagued her subconscious as she found herself as the passenger in this current evening’s fray. 

Yin sat in the passenger seat of the squad car, elbow resting atop the open window, jaw set and lips pursed in annoyance and irritability. Her free hand casually tapping her leg as though in a morse-code type of rhythm. She stared off at nothing of importance as the blue and red flashing lights of the other cop cars around her continued to silently blink. This had been the fourth or fifth normal night this month. She almost, almost, wished something exciting would happen. About five months ago there had been monsters running amok and it had taken the effort of heroes and villains working together to take them and Ra’s Al Ghoul down. But now there was nothing. It was as though none of it had happened. 

“Yin, you awake or does Cash have to make you some eggs and bacon?” 

Yin held back every instinct to grip the bridge of her nose and groan. Instead she came out of her thoughts and gave her partner her standard attention. Cash Tankensen was leaning on the outside of the squad car and looked rather excited about something. Whether he was excited to be out on the mean streets and doing his job or he was just being his usual cop-puppy self, it was hard to tell these days. He had been her partner for a while now and she almost missed Ethan’s quiet disposition but Cash was good company in his own way. It didn’t stop her from wanting to punch him from time time however. 

“What is it?” Yin wanted to know. 

“The Commish needs to talk to ya pronto”, Cash told her, “Somethin’s fishy and it ain’t the oysters for two ninety-nine down at the fish market”. 

Yin sighed, “I get it”, was all she said flatly, opening the door and getting out of the car. 

Cash took no notice of her irritable mood and walked in stride with her towards Commissioner Gordon. Yin looked around and noticed there seemed to be no arrests. Just cops standing around wondering what to do next. She arched an eyebrow as she approached her boss. Gordon dismissed the men and women he was speaking to and turned to regard the two detectives. The commissioner had a very _‘this is going to be a long night’_ expression on his face and Yin could read it loud and clear. The long stake outs and car rides with Ethan had prepared her for these types of evenings. And she was ready for them, no matter the cost. 

“You wanted to talk to me commissioner?”, Yin asked curiously.

“The bank alarm going off was a false alarm”, Gordon told her, gesturing with his left hand as he reached into his trench coat pocket with his right and withdrew a small button sized clear bag, “Our forensics officer found this on the scene”. He held it up close enough for her to see what it was and it looked like---

_Clay._

“Maybe our friend can tell us what it is”, was all Yin said as she carefully took the bag from the commissioner.

“You know how to find him?” Gordon wasn’t dumb but he had to play the part so not to look too suspicious. He was aware of Yin’s past with working with the Batman and the commissioner was eager for to one of the days come to him and explain everything but for now, he’d play it discreet and safe. 

Yin nodded and placed the small clear bag into the breast pocket of her shirt before turning and heading back to the squad car, Cash on her heels. The blonde haired detective had no trouble letting her hop into the driver’s seat but was just as confused as to what had happened between her and Commissioner Gordon. 

\--

At that same moment Batgirl lurked in the shadows of a nearby building. Overlooking the crime scene or what she had assumed to be a crime scene but she saw no criminals or any action. Just cops leaving in their cars. She reached up tentatively to her communications piece and pushed a button.

“Batgirl to Robin, false alarm”, she replied.

“Nothing on my end either. Seems too quiet”, Richard Grayson’s voice echoed back.

“Too quiet for my liking”, Batgirl commented with a sigh. 

Barbra could see her father turn to regard her as though she were a pigeon perched on a rooftop but nothing that would give her away before she disappeared to rendezvous with Dick. The teenagers continued their sweep of the city but found nothing of interest or importance. Nothing of note worthy to report back to the batcave. Gotham just seemed lost in dark mist and fog as though ravaged by brutality and war. As though there was no life left to fight or even to continue. Dick Grayson noted this as the calm before the storm and reminded Batgirl to be on her toes. Even his partner agreed that something felt off about the too quiet nights. 

\---

Yin had been able to shake off her too-curious of a partner. It had been difficult at first but she had eventually humored him that they needed the night off. Cash could not know about her alliance with the Batman and it was with this tiny white lie that she was going home that had gotten her out of having to explain everything. Sure the commissioner seemed to know or assumed to know about her alliance but that she could live with. Cash was a bit too gun happy and Batman was still an unlikely ally to the force. And after the fiasco five months ago, emotions were tight and rather high these days. 

Taking out a communicator Batman had once given her, she called him with coordinates to meet her. It was safe to say the docks seemed appropriate for this meeting as they tended to be less crowded after hours. She sat in her car, gun unholstered and sitting on her dashboard. The communicator in between her fingers. The detective found herself taking out the small clear bag from her shirt pocket and examined it. She fought the urge to open it and even go and get it tested herself. The more she thought about Ethan and the flashbacks of their friendship consuming her, the more she fought the urge to track him down herself. It was simply too dangerous. 

She almost gave up hope that Batman would truly show to meet her until a tall shadow lurked close by and moved stealthily towards her vehicle. She had not seen or heard him and was sure she’d never get used to this part of their partnership. Given the circumstances as of late, she had every right to be jumpy and skeptical. Batman tapped on her window and Yin found she was holding her breath as she unlocked her car to get out. The caped crusader moved back to allow her to get out of her car. 

“Isn’t this is the part where you ask me why I called you here or are you telepathic now?” Yin joked, crossing her arms.

“Considering Robin and Batgirl got in touch with me to let me know they found nothing out of the ordinary, I kept my optimism to a minimum”, Batman answered, “And I was sure you wouldn’t meet with me unless you had to”.

Yin held up the small clear bag to him, “We got a call for a break in at the bank on 39th south. Low visibility and two night security guards. One does rounds from an eight to midnight shift and the other comes in after midnight til the morning shift”, she explained, “Security guard says he went to the bathroom when the alarm was triggered and looked the place over and found nothing”, she gestured to the bag in her hand, “Our forensics guy found this”.

Batman squinted at the small bag in curiosity, his gloved hand going to his utility belt and taking out a small flashlight. He aimed it at the bag to look it over. After a few seconds or so, he took the bag from Yin as he pulled out a small scanner. He had her hold the flashlight so he could open the bag and take out a small sample to scan.

“Is it Ethan?” Yin wanted to know.

“It’s the same consistency as the clay his body is made of”, Batman showed her the scanner, “I’ll have to match it with a sample I took from Ethan after his transformation”. 

Yin frowned slightly, “But it’s him. You and I both know it’s him--” 

Batman had tucked away the scanner and carefully put the small clear bag safely in a pouch on his belt. He took the flashlight back, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Basil Karlo met the same fate as Ethan after trying to construct his own Clayface transformation and nobody has seen Karlo since his escape from Arkham’s medical wing”.

Yin frowned a little, “Ethan’s been missing from Arkham for two months! How can you say that’s not Ethan! You seem so sure--”

“Their samples are identical detective”, Batman cut her off, “We can’t be sure of anything anymore. Not right now”. 

_What kind of cryptic message was that?!_

Yin felt a surge of her irritability rising but the caped crusader was gone as quickly as he had shown up. He had left her nothing to work with or to even go back to Gordon with. And it troubled her that she had stumbled onto a dead end. At the very least she was hoping to snag a lead but no, that dream had been futile and wishful thinking on her part. Getting back into her car, she slammed her hands against the steering wheel and cursed herself for failing. Even if there were two Clayfaces, why would it matter? Didn’t finding her ex-partner matter more? That sample left behind at the bank had been the first lead on him in a long time. 

She barely paid any mind to where she was going as she drove back into the city. As she drove around to cool off, she was fighting the urge to go back to the scene of the crime to try and find more evidence. She headed in the direction of her apartment instead. There would be boxes of take out leftovers for her throw back before she passed out from exhaustion. When she arrived home, she kicked off her shoes, threw on the television and grabbed two cartons of take out. One had chicken and noodles and the other had some sort of Indian curry with lamb chunks. Yin sat with on her couch, giving the news little of her attention.

_“Police are still unable to locate the missing tea cup from the Gotham exhibitory museum. The tea cup was last seen in the garden of the museum’s courtyard. The museum was visited again two months after but have left the GCPD baffled as to whom the criminals are. With a comment from Commissioner Gordon, we are allowed to report that only oyster shells and tea leaves were left at the scene of--”_

Yin turned the channel to something less vexing. Sinking into the couch cushions, not wanting to hear anymore dribble. Nothing new had really happened recently and therefore the media was fixating on recycled reports. Including the disappearance of a very large, expensive, tea cup. She watched a commercial promoting something or rather, nothing too interesting but it was so brain numbing it caused her to relax and just let the feeling of relief over take her. She returned to her food with disinterest and gave up after fifteen or so minutes later. Setting her contents down on the coffee table and lounging back on her couch. 

She wasn’t aware of falling asleep or when she had gone from being awake to being asleep for that matter. The dream she had consisted of being in a warped colored version of Gotham and trying to run through the streets after a figure she only assumed was Ethan. The buildings grew closer and closer together before they melted together and caused a wave of dark toned mass to consume her and she tried to climb upwards for air. A huge form of Riddler loomed over the melting city and with a wave of his question mark staff, Yin found herself trapped in a plastic clear box, which was slowly filling up with what appeared to be mud. Riddler’s voice was laughing at her, mocking her with a warped sense of humor riddle and causing the mud to swallow her faster as she hand slid down the clear plastic front of the box. The last thing she heard was Ethan screaming in pain as darkness overtook her vision… 

Yin sat up in a cold sweat some time later as the dream ended. She felt as though she had suffocated and placed her hands around her throat to make sure she was alright. Her ponytail had messily started to fall out, and she was only aware of the TV as she jumped at the sound of a man talking. Turning quickly to her right, she saw that the channel she had switched to only hours ago was now showing a shopping broadcast for the channel. Turning off the TV, she proceeded to the kitchen for a glass of water. She managed to drink half before setting the glass down again. 

“Get a grip”, Yin told herself as she splashed some water from the sink onto her face, deciding sleeping in her own bed might be more helpful than sleeping on the couch, which had been her go to as of lately. 

\---

As Detective Yin fell asleep and was having her unpleasant nightmare, the last bus into Gotham arrived. A lone bat with dark fur and a few light grey streaks found it’s perch under a dark archway in the Gotham cemetery. As the last bus came to a stop just a street over, only a handful of persons stepped onto the sidewalk, the cold air washing over their faces. One however among them was a man in dark red robes and hood. He was thin, only carrying a single messenger bag on his person. He looked like a monk, head bowed in what anyone could assume was prayer as he moved to cross the street. In an eerie manner, from beneath his hood, his eyes moved distinctly, taking in his surroundings. 

The bat in the archway seemed to regard him with the movement of it’s head. Whether it was this or the bat was just turning its head toward the noise of the bus is anyone’s guess. But it did seem as though the man in the robes and the bat were quite aware of each other at any rate but neither seemed to stay long enough for further observation to this odd sight. The man in the robes was gone and the bat found it’s self occupied with it’s own business until the moonlight would eventually darken behind some clouds.

\---

The strange events of the night previously however were lost on others as morning came to the city hours later. A tinge of pink, orange and blue hues welcomed the city and the sky with a cold handshake and nothing more. Papers were delivered, traffic was busy, the citizens remained blissfully unaware as they went about their routines. As though nothing had happened and everything was fine. They were just the passengers of this roller coaster but some, unlike others, were only observers. And the observers were generally those who played their roles well despite unknowingly doing so. 

Sunlight creeped through the curtains of the bedroom, lightly sunning the two occupants like a warm hand touching an object. Erin Knightly was wrapped in an enveloped embrace by her boyfriend, Jervis Tetch. The two were tangled in the cotton bedsheets and limbs. She had her head resting against his shoulder, her face pressed against the nap of his neck. It was the soft hum of the alarm that awoke her first and she groggily leaned over to reach for the alarm but only barely brushed it with her finger tips. The redhead tried her best to quietly move across the Englishman to reach for the button on the alarm clock but was stopped with a light grab of her hand.

“Allow me”, Jervis chuckled sleepily as he entwined his fingers with hers.

He reached over with ease and turned off the alarm, returning back to taking her hand in his and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. The redhead blushed, smiling shyly. He turned his gaze towards her and ran his fingertips along her back.Erin proceeded to return his affection in seconds as she started kissing him, taking the initiative before he could. Jervis was enjoying her response to his touch and enjoying her as well. When she pulled away, he seemed a bit baffled at the change of heart.

“And where do you think you’re going?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Erin smirked flirtingly, “I’m just going to use the bathroom and then I’ll be back for you before breakfast”, she told him, cupping his face and running her fingers slowly down his jawline.

Jervis’s face became a patchwork of bright red instantly. She pressed a kiss against his lips before moving off of him. He felt the linger of the kiss on his mouth, excited for more once she came back. He watched as she crossed the room to the bedroom door, he was almost inclined to follow her but felt it better to wait for her to come back. He’d think of a way to help her enjoy their fun before they had breakfast. Erin smiled at him over her shoulder as she opened the bedroom door but what neither of them were expecting was for a visitor to poke their head around the doorframe, leaning back slightly on their heels with an annoyed expression. The girl had black hair, green eyes and large blue wings. 

“You _do know_ you’re out of cereal right?” the black haired girl remarked.

The redhead, who had been standing fully nude in her own open bedroom doorway, gave an unbelievable scream before slamming the bedroom door shut. The black haired female did not change her expression but instead quirked an eyebrow as the former yelled incoherently at her from the other side of the door.

“That’s not very ladylike Knightly!” Wraith sarcastically answered back, arms folded.

There was a pause within the room as Erin tried to keep Jervis from going out there himself. They seemed to have a short muttering argument before it seemed he conceded on the matter and Erin emerged from the bedroom wearing a very baggy familiar looking shirt that fell loosely a few inches or more above her knee. She was buttoning it quickly and trying to shut the door behind her as she moved.

“HEY TETCH, YOUR GIRLFRIEND HAS A NICE--” Wraith started to yell as Erin shut the bedroom door and proceeded to clamp her hand over her best friend’s mouth.

“Out.Side.Now”, was all Erin said through gritted teeth.

Wraith glared at her before pulling away. Grabbing her scythe, she and Erin went out onto the terrace of Erin’s apartment. Erin closed the door to the terrace behind her so they had some sort of privacy. Wraith knew she’d be off the hook easy peasy regardless if Erin was angry with her or not. This wasn’t the first time they’d had an argument and this wouldn’t be the last either. 

“Are you mad?! What are you doing showing up here?!” Erin wanted to know, gesturing to the apartment.

“Isn’t it obvious? I was hungry, Knightly”, Wraith told her, lifting her eyebrows.

The redhead was doing all she could not to lose her temper and yell, trying to keep a relatively calm composure, “You can’t just keep coming over like this! Showing up whenever you want to!”

“You’ve had no problems with me before”, Wraith reminded her, “But oh, I see”, she paused, scuffing and wrinkling her nose as though she smelled something terrible, her voice rising to a level of sarcasm again, “Now that you’re with mary poppins in there, getting your free spoonfuls of sugar, you suddenly have a problem with it”. 

Erin gave her an even glare, “You’re not exactly his favorite person either. I can hardly have you two in the same room without you two trying to kill each other. You need to get off your high horse and let me handle this”. 

Wraith laughed, “You? Make him do anything? You know you’re the one wrapped tight around his finger right? Just like with Pengers”. 

Erin’s face burned a streak of crimson, her hands balling into fists, “Don’t you dare compare my Hatter to that----that asshole!” 

The latter played with her scythe as though she had just found it, a frown pulling at her cheeks, “Look”, she remarked pointedly, “I don’t trust Tetch as far as I can throw him. I didn’t trust Penguin either. But if you go down this road Knightly, I’m not going to protect you from whatever weird mushroom magic he sells you”, she looked her friend dead in the eyes, “Guen is in here begging me to keep an eye on you but even she can feel you slipping”. 

Erin didn’t back down from how she was feeling at this moment. Her stomach burned with anger and she could feel herself wanting to punch something or yell. There were words in the back of her head she wanted to say to her but knew it was only things she’d regret later. The redhead only gave her a steely gaze before turning to look away from her.

“This was a warning. I won’t hold him back next time”, came the redhead’s reply before she shoved open the terrace door, moving back inside, and promptly shutting the door louder than she meant to. 

Wraith stared at her through the glass, her fingers gripping her scythe. Her wings flapped uneasily. After watching the redhead disappear out of sight, she moved to pull the hood of her sweatshirt up to cover her hair, and just like that, she was gone like a ghost in daylight a few seconds later. Nobody was the wiser. Erin stood in the bathroom and while washing up, she stood with her fingers gripping the counter. Her head bowed. Her body was still shaking but finally, after what felt like minutes, she calmed down. 

She didn’t return to the bedroom and this caused Jervis to come look for her. He found her putting a kettle on the stove and going through the motions of making breakfast. Jervis wordlessly approached her, moving her hair out of the way and kissing the back of her neck. He felt her muscles relax beneath his touch. He didn’t ask her about what had happened, he’d ask her later when she was in a better mood. For now the angry harpie had left and that’s all that mattered. Jervis assisted in helping Erin clear dishes after breakfast and found her to be feeling better with conversation. He felt he needed to lighten the mood.

“Our good friend Toymaker should have our beloved tea cup up and operational within the next week”, Jervis commented, brushing his fingers through her hair.

“Oh?” Erin looked at him curiously.

He cupped her chin lovingly, stroking her jaw, “I asked for him to make some tweaks to it that could prove useful. I gave him the exact blueprints I wanted with some more changes I thought you’d like”. 

“That’s great!” She beamed, her mood lifting, even a little bit, at the news, “Oh I knew Cosmo would come through!” 

He nodded in agreement, leading her away towards the couch. He leisurely sat down and pulled her towards him. Erin giggled a little as she fell into his lap and leaned into him. He played with her hair, watching her closely. Wheels also turning behind his dark blue eyes all the while.


End file.
